If your home is one of the many in line for foreclosure, you've probably gotten the calls and received the letters offering you help. Companies you've never heard of with catchy names promise they can save your home. All you have to do is write them a nice check, and they'll negotiate with your bank to modify your mortgage terms.

The truth is, if you write that check, or allow them to charge your credit card, there's no guarantee the company will save you from foreclosure. They don't have any special powers and can't force your lender to do anything. They could make a few phone calls and give up, and you're right back where you started, minus what you paid your supposed savior.

Federal authorities say the mortgage rescue industry is becoming as big of a problem as the mortgage crisis itself. So they're stepping in with a solution. As of Jan. 31, for-profit companies that promise to save you from foreclosure by modifying your loan terms will be prohibited from taking payment in advance of their work.

They won't be able to charge you until they get you acceptable terms from your bank, and must also follow other rules designed to ensure customers know the limitations of the services they are signing up for.

Today's Watchdog column has more details. The rule doesn't apply to non-profit agencies that offer foreclosure assistance. The feds say the rule is necessary to save people who already are in financial trouble from wasting money.

"At a time when many Americans are struggling to pay their mortgages, peddlers of so-called mortgage relief services have taken hundreds of millions of dollars from hundreds of thousands of homeowners without ever delivering results," Jon Leibowitz, chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, said recently in a statement. "By banning providers of these services from collecting fees until the customer is satisfied with the results, this rule will protect consumers from being victimized by these scams."

Now, companies can't ask you for cash upfront. It's important that you know that rule if you're going to seek help from a mortgage rescue company. One of the reasons that industry is flourishing is that the feds have failed in another attempt to save your home, through the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).

If you're so desperate that you're thinking of hiring a foreclosure rescue company, do your homework first. Consider a non-profit agency. Verify that the company you have chosen is licensed to do business in Pennsylvania and hasn't been cited for wrongdoing, by checking with the PA Department of Banking.

Also check it out with the Better Business Bureau, and search online. Authorities are publicizing their investigations, and there is a lot of information on companies and individuals facing allegations.

Above all, know what compaies are required to tell you under the new federal regulations. The new rules will not apply to banks, nor lawyers in most cases. Lawyers will be allowed to collect advance fees for mortgage rescue or modification services, but must deposit the money into a client trust account.

When drafting the rule, the FTC considered input from 75 stakeholders, including mortgage relief companies, consumer groups, lawyers and others in the financial industry.